Gap between rich-poor immigrants has lessons for all CanadiansBack to video

University of B.C. economist Thomas Lemieuxteamed up with Brahim Boudarbat of Universite de Montreal to produce the report, which a federally funded labour research publication titled: The Poor Got Poorer.

The disturbing report shows recent immigrants are falling into extremes. They’re either doing better than native-born Canadians in education, business and the professions, or they’re descending into an increasingly struggling immigrant under-class.

“It’s a huge gap,” Lemieux said in an interview. “It’s true that the rich are generally getting richer in Canada, but it’s even worse for immigrants, especially male immigrants.”

The government-funded study of new immigrants, roughly two-thirds of whom come from Asia, has major policy implications for Canada.

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The most successful cohort of recent immigrants comes to Canada with strong English or French language skills, workplace contacts, high levels of education and work experience.

This high-achieving camp includes those who arrive in Canada before age 20. They tend to do well because they are more adept at learning a new language and flock to education.

This group’s accomplishments are reflected in data showing that the proportion of immigrants with a higher education has skyrocketed in recent decades -to the point that 12.7 per in 2001 reported having postgraduate degrees.

That higher-education rate is more than double that of Canadian-born residents, only 5.5 per cent of whom have postgraduate degrees.

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However, the picture is much more gloomy for the immigrant cohort that is rapidly falling behind.

This camp is generally made up of immigrants who are older, have limited ability in English or French and low education levels.

What does this new study mean for all Canadians, both immigrants and native-born?

Economists such as Lemieux (left) and Simon Fraser University’s Krishna Pendakur acknowledge it’s not necessarily a sign of Canadian social injustice that immigrants tend to report lower earnings.

It’s a natural result of many immigrants having difficulties with the country’s two official languages; coming from countries with lower educational standards or having fewer years experience in Canada’s workforce.

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Still, Lemieux has some smart suggestions for how Canada could be increasing the prospects of low-earning immigrants, not to mention those born in Canada who financially struggle.

The Quebec-raised economist supports the Canadian government’s move to increasingly favour prospective immigrants who show high ability in French or English.

In addition, Lemieux says it’s not wrong for the Canadian government to continue to approve would-be immigrants who have lined up jobs in Canada before their arrival.

At the same time, to head off the growing chasm between prosperous and poor newcomers, Lemieux would like to make English-as-a-second-language classes more easily available.

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Education, of almost any kind, is the key to decreasing earning gaps among immigrants and all Canadians, Lemieux adds.

“All Canadians should recognize there’s still a big payoff to higher education. You will probably need it to make sure you don’t fall to the bottom,” he said.

“You don’t necessarily need a bachelor’s degree. Many technical degrees will help you quite a bit.”

That said, Lemieux is worried that the cost of an education in Canada has been increasing much faster than the price tag of most other goods and services.

“What’s getting the most expensive now in Canada? In the past 15 years it has not been TVs or cars. It’s actually education. It may be discouraging lots of people from going to school.”

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It’s not only among immigrants that the worrying gap between well-off and low-income Canadians is increasing, Lemieux said. The wealthiest Canadians “have doubled their share of the pie” in the past 15 years.

The widening gulf between rich and poor would decline, he said, if more Canadians, both native-born and immigrants, had access to less expensive education. The sticker-price of an education can often prove too daunting.

How can society make possible wider access to education? Lemieux is drawn to one innovative example from Australia, in which the government allows students to pay back educational loans based on their future incomes.

It’s done through income taxes, said the UBC professor. “So, instead of telling an Australian student to directly repay a $5,000 loan, they’re asked to pay an extra one per cent on their income tax down the road. Now that’s creative.”

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